Practitioner record · Checked 7 Oct 2026

Lesley Schmaltz has been in practice 16 years and is licensed in Indiana. Lesley lists stress, Anxiety, family conflicts and trauma and abuse among 29 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.

Everything below is either quoted from Lesley's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.

16years in practice
29subjects listed
11approaches listed

01 · Who Lesley works with

Lesley works with stress, Anxiety, family conflicts and trauma and abuse

Lesley lists 10 specialisms and 19 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Lesley chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.

Specialisms
  • Stress, Anxiety
  • Family conflicts
  • Trauma and abuse
  • Grief
  • Depression
  • Relationship issues
  • Parenting issues
  • Self esteem
  • Coping with life changes
  • ADHD
Also experienced with
  • Attachment issues
  • Body image
  • Caregiver issues and stress
  • Communication problems
  • Divorce and separation
  • Family problems
  • Forgiveness
  • Guilt and shame
  • Hospice and end-of-life counseling
  • Isolation / loneliness
  • Life purpose
  • Mood disorders
  • Postpartum depression
  • Post-traumatic stress
  • Pregnancy and childbirth
  • Self-love
  • Social anxiety and phobia
  • Women's issues
  • Young adult issues

02 · In Lesley's own words

What Lesley says about the work

Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.

Hi! My name is Lesley Schmaltz and I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Indiana (licensed also in Kentucky) with 16 years of experience working as a social worker/therapist. I received my Master of Science in Social Work from the University of Louisville in 2005. My experience has included hospice care working with terminally ill patients and their families, school-based psychotherapy working with elementary, middle and high school students, and as a virtual psychotherapist providing treatment for a wide range of concerns including anxiety, depression, PTSD, ADHD and family and couples therapy. These experiences have given me the opportunity to utilize many different therapeutic modalities including grief counseling, trauma-informed care, Client-Centered and supportive approaches, Cognitive and Dialectical-Behavioral therapies, Behavioral and Behavioral Modification treatment, parenting support, family and couples/marriage therapy and many more.

My priority is to build relationships with clients and partner with them to develop a unique treatment plan that suits each person. My style is warm, inviting and accepting. I am passionate and grateful for my opportunity to get to know people and witness their self-discovery. I look forward to having that experience with you!

Lesley Schmaltz, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026

03 · How Lesley works

The 10 approaches Lesley lists, in plain English

These are the clinical methods Lesley lists. The descriptions are Maker Therapy's, not Lesley's - a general explanation of what each method is, so the list means something before you have spoken to anybody. They are not a claim about how Lesley runs a session.

Acceptance and Commitment TherapyACT
Rather than trying to argue a painful thought away, ACT works on loosening its grip and getting on with what matters to you anyway. Sessions spend real time naming your values, then building action around them while difficult feelings are still present.
Attachment-Based Therapy
Reads present-day relationship difficulty through the lens of how safety and closeness were learned early on. The therapeutic relationship itself is treated as part of the work, because it is where the pattern tends to show up first.
Client-Centred TherapyPerson-centred · Rogerian
The therapist does not steer toward a technique or a diagnosis. They offer sustained, non-judgemental attention and reflect back what they hear, on the premise that people find their own direction when they are genuinely listened to. Often what people mean by “someone who just gets it”.
Cognitive Behavioural TherapyCBT
Structured, present-focused work on the loop between what you think, how you feel and what you then do. Usually means noticing a thought pattern in the room, testing it against evidence, and practising something different between sessions. Among the most heavily researched talking therapies for depression and anxiety.
Emotionally Focused TherapyEFT
Built for couples and rooted in attachment: the recurring argument is treated as a cycle two people are stuck in rather than as one person's fault. Sessions work to interrupt the cycle and get to what each person is actually asking for underneath it.
Mindfulness-Based TherapyMBCT
Trains attention on what is happening right now - body, breath, the thought as it arrives - so distress can be observed rather than automatically acted on. Strongest evidence is in preventing depression from recurring, and it is usually taught as a practice you keep doing outside the session.
Motivational InterviewingMI
A way of talking about change with somebody who is genuinely in two minds about it. The therapist does not argue for the change; they help you say your own reasons out loud, which is the part that predicts whether it happens. Common around substance use and health behaviour.
Narrative Therapy
Treats the story you tell about your life as something that can be examined and retold rather than as the plain facts. Separates the person from the problem - “the anxiety” rather than “your anxiety” - to make room for the parts the current story leaves out.
Solution-Focused Brief TherapySFBT
Starts from where you want to end up rather than from how you got here. Sessions look for the times the problem is already smaller and work out what is different about those, so the number of sessions tends to be short and the work concrete.
Trauma-Focused TherapyTF-CBT · trauma-informed
CBT adapted for people whose difficulty is rooted in a frightening or overwhelming event. Pacing is the point: safety and stabilisation come first, the memory itself is approached gradually and only when you are ready, and the aim is that recalling it stops hijacking the present.

Also listed

  • Jungian Therapy

04 · What happens next

From this page to a first session

Lesley practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Lesley's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.

  1. A questionnaire, not a booking form

    BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Lesley at this point.

  2. Naming Lesley specifically

    BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Lesley is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Lesley.

  3. If the caseload is full

    You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.

  4. The first conversation

    A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.

  5. If the fit is wrong

    Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.

05 · Before you commit

4 questions worth asking Lesley

Built from what Lesley actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Lesley's - Lesley has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.

  • “You list both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Attachment-Based Therapy. Which do you lean on with someone like me?”

    Those two point in different directions - one structured and led by the therapist, the other led by you. The answer tells you what the sessions will actually feel like.

  • “How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”

    Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.

  • “With 16 years in, what has changed most in how you work?”

    Long experience is only an advantage if it has been examined. This tends to surface whether it has.

  • “How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”

    On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.

06 · Practical details

Credentials and licensing

Credential
LCSW
Licensed in
Indiana
Licence
IN LCSW 34006026A, KY LCSW 3384
Licence number
34006026A
Licence expires
1 Apr 2028
NPI
1124188107
Years in practice
16
Gender
Female
Languages
English
International clients
Not accepted
Listed since
26 Sep 2026

07 · Provenance

Where every line on this page came from

Lesley's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.

The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.

Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Lesley. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.

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